July 23, 2006

St. Joe's Faith Discussions

This is an area specifically devoted to discussing your faith with others. Please this is not a general discussion area to talk about world events or childish bantor. Thank you!

So please use this area to share your love of God, your faith, beliefs, how God has touched your life, others lives around you.

Remember we are deciples of Christ and he wants us to examine our faith and share it with others! This is what he calls us to do.

14 Comments:

At 8:08 AM, Blogger Patti said...

Thanks for being the first person from the Parish to come by and visit. We really appreciate you stepping right in and posting.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't use the Sacrament of Reconciliation as I should and probably should consider it more. Thanks for posting this and hopefully getting all of us to reconsider taking advantage of it.

 
At 8:03 AM, Blogger Patti said...

I'm sure Fr. John will appreciate the comment.

We hope that you will continue to support St. Joseph and encourage others to come by and get involved here on our forum/blog.

 
At 7:33 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

My first visit to this site was yesterday and I left it more than a little concerned.
I noticed on the children’s page the 'Bible' topic. I thought COOL! let’s get the Good News to the kids as early and as deeply as possible.
I was disheartened that the explanation of Adam & Eve and Creation were so politically correct and worldly. It said that these 'stories' were a way for the early humans to explain the "Beginning" of the world.
The Word of God is just that! All of the books of the Bible are true and literal; HIS WORD! God can not lie. Either you believe ALL the Bible as truth or you don't, you can't have it both ways.
We can't tell kids believe THIS die for THIS but oh, THIS is just a fable. Before very long most kids will decide m a y b e the whole book is a fable.
Confused, Perplexed & Concerned

 
At 11:27 AM, Blogger Patti said...

You are looking too deeply for something that is not there. No where does it say that the stories in the Bible were fables and no where does it say that God lies.

I went back over and over trying to see exactly where you read that. Or how anyone could read so much falseness into something simple.

The stories are just simplified for young children in a world filled with so much complexity and confusion.

 
At 8:15 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

No, you are right, the word fable was not used HOWEVER the answer to the question;
Did God really create everything in six days and in the order listed in Genesis?
The answer should have been YES. The Bible is the Inspired Word of God i.e. the Truth.
The sites answer was:
The Bible story of creation was written in a way that made sense to the people of thousands of years ago who did not know anything about science.
Who cares about science?
God is Bigger than science and so is His Word!

The other one that concerned me was the answer to:
Where was the Garden of Eden?
The first part of the answer was correct because it is: "an area near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which means Eden was in the region of modern Iraq”.
Why did why did it have to dilute the truth with:
It is impossible to determine the exact location, however. Many people believe Eden was not an actual place but a symbol for the perfect life and closeness to God that mankind has lost because of sin.
There may be symbolism there but nevertheless it was an actual place!
I am not reading “falseness” into anything.I am worried about the 'extra' stuff that could suggest to children that the Bible is too hard or too unclear to understand. Blah bla . . . symbol bla bla. . .science. Kids can understand the ‘Simple Truth’. Which is easier, one word, Yes or the sentences above?

 
At 9:52 AM, Blogger Patti said...

Sometimes we need to be open to the fact that time has no meaning to God and that there is no way any of us including children can comprehend what one day means to God, but one thing is more than certain it would be what we know as a 24 hour time period and sometimes kids want to know how one day of ours equals one day of God's as far as we know, one day to God could be 1,000 years, maybe even 100,000 years, who is man to say?

Also they don't know exactly where Eden was and where is it wrong to notate what others might think as well? God sent down words to mankind to be thought about and to be used for our own lives and sometimes some people have interpretations that are different than others and there's no commandment in the 10 commandments that says different opinions can not be spoken or discussed.

Like I said before, I think you're trying far too hard to find something that's not really there.

But as Father John always says...."You are loved."

 
At 7:59 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I guess you are dismissing me so, OK.
I would like to pose just one more question before I go.
God said I will send a Savior.
God said He created the world in 6 days.
Why are you OK to accept the first statement literally and not the second?
To me, the proof is in the pudding. It is so much easier and comforting to just Believe that the Bible is the Truth. Period. No speculating just believing in The Word of God; as is.
God did send down His Word to teach us about Him. His power and Majesty and if His Word says he created the world in 6 days that tells me He is All Powerful and definitely Majestic! Pretty simple.
With all the "buts" "maybes" & "interpretation" it is no wonder most Catholics are hesitant to actually read the Bible for themselves.
Thanks for your time and conversation.

 
At 7:08 AM, Blogger Patti said...

First off you weren't being dismissed just don't want to argue over it. Secondly, this Catholic...reads the Bible 7 days a week, 3 chapters per day Mon. thru Sat. and 5 chapters on Sundays and leads a Bible Study group as well. You seem to have misguided views of Catholics which shows in your statement.

As I said before...You Are Loved. :-)

 
At 7:32 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

OK you win. Obviously you have explored all the possibilities and you know the truth.
And yes I am Loved, by the Creator of the Universe! Amazing isn't it?

 
At 1:05 PM, Blogger Patti said...

Was no battle here to be won or lost. :-)

And yes, I do know the truth, that God gave his only son so that we might once again share in His love as it was always meant to be, by the loving sacrifice that Jesus gave for us at the cross and forgiving our sins infinitely, just as we are expected to do with others. As Peter asked Jesus "How many times must I forgive my brother? 7 times?" and Christ replied "No not just 7 times but 70 times 7". :-)

 
At 2:44 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Very good then.
Appreciate your efforts.
I will just say that I will continue to interpret the Bible literally.

 
At 5:57 AM, Blogger Patti said...

And you know what? There's nothing wrong with that. :-)

I enjoyed our conversation by the way.

URLVD

 
At 9:08 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Interesting conversation between Anonymous and Patti - taking the bible literally or figuratively or ...? I have always enjoyed language. We know it has evolved so much throughout our own lives. Imagine how words, expressions, and meanings have changed over thousands of years! Isn't that why we rely on interpretations by well-studied theologians? "Word!" They can glean the intended messages or themes of the readings by knowing era/language/background,
giving us "the big picture."

We say something great is "really cool," yet it can be "really hot" at the same time! People used to respond to a "thank you" only with "you're welcome." Now it's "no problem," "yeah," "uh- huh," "OK," and even "thank YOU."

Not all too long ago, something desirable was really "in," but also "far out!" And "dude" used to refer to a nerdy newcomer, but now refers to a good friend who knows what's up, i.e., "Yo, Dude!"

It's really the bottom line that matters, isn't it? And Patti and Anonymous definitely had the same one: Jesus loved us so much He gave His life so we could live!

We may take different routes, but our destination is the same.

 
At 1:50 PM, Blogger Patti said...

Thank you for your post and yes you're exactly right we both ended up at the same destination.

:-)

Nice to see someone could see that.

 

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